BUCK-TICK Lyrics | 恋 (Koi)

Love¹ (Koi)

Words by Sakurai Atsushi

Music By Hoshino Hidehiko

Japanese

ずっと前から　そう　わたしの中に‥
あなたが誰かを　知っている
お顔を見せて　ねえ　笑ってみせて
わたしの名前を　呼ん で　欲しい

 　恋　焦がれ　　夢　幻

 あなたは踊り疲れて　眠る　ああ
 真っ白な爪先　血が滲む　ああ
 天国への階段　登ってゆく

ひとりでゆくのさ　ひとりきりだよ
降り出した雨に　誰も
暗闇を歩く　勇気はあるかい
怖くは無いよと わた し　嘘 を

 　恋　焦がれ　　夢　破れて

あなたは踊り疲れて　眠る　ああ
わたしのこの両手　すり抜ける　ああ
天国への扉を　叩いている

踊る　踊る　踊る　君は　愛
淡く　淡く　滲む　僕の　恋
踊る　踊る　踊る　君は　愛
淡く　淡く　滲む　僕の　恋

Romaji

By: Andy

Zutto mae kara　Sou　Watashi no naka ni‥
Anata ga dare ka wo　shitte iru
Okao wo misete　Nee　Waratte misete
Watashi no namae wo　yon de　hoshi i

 　Koi　Kogare　　Yume　Maboroshi

Anata wa odori tsukarete　nemuru　Aa
Masshiro na tsumasaki　chi ga nijimu　Aa
Tengoku e no kaidan　nobotte yuku

Hitori de yuku no sa　Hitori kiri da yo
Furi dashita ame ni　dare mo
Kurayami wo aruku　yuuki wa aru kai
Kowaku wa nai yo to wata shi　uso wo

 　Koi　Kogare　　Yume　Yaburete

Anata wa odori tsukarete　nemuru　Aa
Watashi no kono ryoute　surinukeru　Aa
Tengoku e no tobira wo　tataite iru

Odoru　Odoru　Odoru　Kimi wa　ai
Awaku　Awaku　Nijimu　Boku no　koi
Odoru　Odoru　Odoru　Kimi wa　ai
Awaku　Awaku　Nijimu　Boku no　koi

English

By: Yoshiyuki

Since the very beginning, yes, inside me‥
I’ve always known who you are
Let me see your face　Hey, smile for me
Won’t you call me… by… my name

 　Love　Aflame　　A dream　An illusion

You dance until you tire　You sleep　Ah
Alabaster nails　Blood trickles　Ah
I climb the stairway to heaven

I go alone　All by myself
In the pouring rain, who
Dares traverse the dark?
“Fear not,” I… lied

　 Love　Aflame　　A dream　Torn apart

You dance until you tire　You sleep　Ah
These two hands of mine　slip through　Ah
I’m knocking on heaven’s door

Dance　Twirl　Sway　You are　my love
Lightly　Faintly　Trickling　My　affection
Dance　Twirl　Sway　You are　my love
Lightly　Faintly　Trickling　My　affection

Notes:

¹ A very difficult word to translate. There’s a difference between the usual 愛 (ai) and this 恋 (koi). The easy way out would be to simply translate 恋 as “love” but therein lies the question, how do you differentiate between the two?
On its own, 愛 is something deeper than 恋. Most would actually define 恋 as something akin to a crush.

According to FT Magazine #101, Sakurai said that the idea behind this song largely revolves around life and death (go figure) and it was written as a sort of requiem for his friends and acquaintances, both from work and his private life, who passed away in these recent few years. And the word 恋 was the word that came to him when he was working on the song. In other words, 恋 doesn’t equate to a “crush” here.
So I looked at 愛しい (itoshii) versus 恋しい (koishii) to get another perspective. Note that these two are adjectives. This time, while both refer to affections, 愛しい appears to focus more on a sense of protectiveness towards the other, while 恋しい is more about an intense attraction towards the other and a strong desire to see them.

This other nuance, along with yearning (another definition of 恋) seems more aligned with what I think Sakurai is trying to convey.
So, while I still settled for “Love” for the title, I’d really rather use something else but I just can’t quite come up with a better word in English.
You’ll see that I used “affection” towards the end so I hope it somewhat conveys some of that nuance.

All in all, I don’t actually think “Love” is the best possible English title for it, but I’m out of ideas at the moment.
So do drop me a message anywhere if you want to suggest something 🙂